Pivoted wheel for vehicles



June 2, 1936. 2,042,623 LOUlS-EUGENE-WIDQLT MONTROSE-OSTER PIVOTED WHEELFOR VEHICLES Original Filed May 6, 1931 3 Sheets-Sheet l z I [fire/160W:1a

x 14mm? 6 June 2, 1936. 2,042,623

-LOUl$-EUGENE-WIDOLT MONTROSE-OSTER PIVOTED WHEEL FOR VEHICLES OriginalFiled May 6, 1931 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 TI T Z a Z// June 2, 1936. 2,042,623

) LOUlS-EUGENE-WIDOLT MONTROSE-OSTER PIVOTED WHEEL FOR VEHICLES OriginalFiled May 6, 1951 3 Sheets-$heet 5 w Wm mm film) m Attor/wyj PatentedJune 2, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE PIVOTED WHEEL FOR VEHICLESLouis-Eugene-Widolt Mon'trose-Oster, Carlsbad, Czechoslovakia 12 Claims.

The subject matter of this application constitutes a division of thepending application Serial No. 535,532, filed May 6, 1931.

My invention relates to pivoted wheels for vehicles, and more especiallyto pivoted wheels for vehicles which travel on rails. An object of thisinvention is a novel construction of wheels permitting to keep constantthe effective distance between the two tread circles of the wheels, thatis the running gauge of the tires in one and the same half-truck, saiddistance or gauge being equal to the track gauge, while the actualdistance between the center points of the planes of rotation of thewheels is increasing as a function of the displacement or swing of thewheels.

In my present invention wheels without axles, that is wheels withoutthrough axles are used in order to reduce the unsprung weight. Truckswhich are equipped with wheels constructed in this manner are especiallysuitable for street cars with a low floor passing throughout the car.The connection of the two free wheels or two groups of free wheels ofone and the same truck is effected in this construction by means of acontrol member in the form of a crank-disk.

The above and other objects of this invention may be realized by aconstruction which will be described hereinafter, reference being had tothe accompanying drawings which form part of this specification.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 shows diagrammatically in top view and partly in section a halftruck having a crank disc cooperating with Worms and Cardan shafts forsteering one pair of wheels, said half-truck being situated in normalstraight position, so that the distance :0 between the pivoting pointsof the wheels is equal to the running gauge at.

Fig. 2 is a top view of the same half-truck upon a curve, the distance 2between the pivoting points of the wheels having become greater thantherunning gauge :r.

Fig. 3 is a section along the line IIIIII of Fig. 1, looking in thedirection of the arrows.

Fig. 4 is a section along the line IVIV of Fig. 2, looking in thedirection of the arrows.

Fig. 5 is a view similar to that of Fig. 4, showing the wheel in adifferent position.

Fig. 6 shows an equivalent arrangement of a truck and wheel system witha crank disk as guide member in connection with a modified constructionin which every truck comprises twopairs of wheels arranged in tandem,instead of two individual oppositely positioned wheels.

Since the degree of pivoting of tandem wheels keeps within relativelynarrow limits, each pair of tandem wheels may be placed below seats ofthe car permitting to also equip cars having some greater lengthwhichotherwise could only be constructed as cars with four axles and arelatively high fioorwith the novel construction. which therefore may bedesignated as a truck of the cut open type or half-truck.

In the present case the frame proper of the half-truck consists of tworods or beams I posi- 10 tioned transversely to the car, said rods orbeams being equipped with horizontal as well as vertical races 2 andwith ends 3 supporting leaf-springs (not shown for the sake ofsimplicity), the body of the car thus resting upon said leaf-springs.The two rods or beams I are rigidly connected with each other by meansof the transoms 4, 5 and 6 shown in the upper, middle and under part ofFig. 1. Rigidly connected to the outer tran- V soms 4 and 6 are wormgear casings I and I. Cardan shafts 8 and 8 lead from the worms of saidworm gear casings towards the driving motors which are mounted in knownmanner on the body of the car. The leaf-springs (not shown) which reston the ends 3 of the rods will therefore permit the half-truck andtherewith the worm, the worm gear, as well as the worm gear casing tomove only in a vertical sense with respect to the driving motors inaccordance with the degree of resiliency of the springs. On the 30middle transom 5 there is provided a crank disk I0 rotatable around thecenter-points which is positioned in the central axis of the half-truck.The crank disk I8 is connected at four points I I, I2, I3 and I4 thereofwith the one ends of four symmetrically arranged guide rods II, I2, I3and I 4, respectively, said guide rods being connected at their otherends with bridges I5 and I5; for instance, two of said rods II' and I2are connected with the points II and I2" of the bridge I5 which extendsaround the wheel and carries two vertical extensions in the form of rodsI6 and I6 provided with spring sockets. The rods I6 and I6 are equippedwith rollers I! and I7, respectively, which are around said rods at theheight of the central axis of the wheel. The bridge I5 furthermore isprovided within the plane of the wheel with two further rollers I8 and18' having an horizontal axis of rotation, r the journals of saidrollers being mounted at I9 and 20 and I9 and 20'. The rollers I8 and I8serve to support the weight of the truck and of the entire body of thecar and revolve upon the under surface of the horizontal roller races2.- The rollers I! and II are in contact with the vertical roller races2 and their ends 2| and 2I serve as catches or stops.

Similar to the catches used in connection with axle casings of ordinaryconstruction the bridge engages with the plate 22 which is mountedslidingly in vertical direction on said bridge and with extensions orcatches 23, 23. This plate 22 is provided with perforated extensions 24and 24 through which the rods I6 and I6 pass for pressing the springs 25and 25' against the spring sockets on said rods. 26 and 26 are guiderods having spherical ends engaging at the points 21 and 21' with theplate 22 as well as at the points 28 and 28 with the toothed segments 29and 29 mountedon the transverse rod 6, when they may pivot around thepoints 30 and 30', vertically positioned above each other. Instead ofthis arrangement parallel guiding of the wheels may evidently also beeffected by means of three guide rods of which two are positioned in avertical plane.

The plate 22 is equipped with a cylindrical projection 3| carryingbearings similar to the front wheel bearings of automobiles, supportingthe wheel 32, thus forming a casing. The wheel 32 itself is providedwith a cylindrical recess 33 positioned within the plane of rotation ofsaid wheel. A- like cylindrical central recess 33 is provided on theusually employed oppositely positioned worm gear 34. Connection betweensaid cylindrical recess 33 on the wheel 32 and the cylinder 33' of theworm gear 34 is effected by a Cardan or universal joint of ordinaryconstruction permitting the following motions of said wheel with respectto the worm gear: Firstly, to move in vertical direction, secondly, toapproach said worm gear with its center 36, and thirdly, to

- swing around an axis perpendicular to the plane of the drawings, thisaxis being likewise perpendicular to the common central axis of thetruck and of the free wheels and moving along said central common axisin direction towards the worm gear casing.

Intermediate the worm gear 1 and the cylindrical part 38 of the plate 22there is interposed a leather cuff 39 as a protection for the Cardandrive against entrance of dust and dirt.

Retracting springs 40 and 40' may be provided intermediate the points IIand M on the one hand and the points I2" and I3 on the other hand, saidretracting springs being of shortest length as shown in Fig. 1 andexpanded according to Fig. 2. Instead of that it is possible to insert asuitable damping device at this place.

When a car provided with the described halftrucks begins to move along aright-hand curve in a direction of the arrow D (Fig. 2), the variousparts of the device will assume the position shown in Figure 2.

The inner surface of the flange of the upper left wheel will run alongthe rail which bends toward the right, as well as the lower right wheel,the outer surface of which will run along the side wall of the groove ofthe rail, provided that the rail is a grooved one. The front portions ofthe two wheels are thereby moved toward the right, in the direction ofthe arrow D. If an ordinary rail is used, it is sufficient that the leftwheel run along the rail, since the position of the other wheel isadjusted correspondingly by the crank disc and the four guide rods.

Therefore, when the upper left wheel is turned toward the right, thecrank disc I0 is moved automatically, since it is connected with thewheel by the guide rods I4 and I3. The point I3 is prises two or fourwheels.

a separate bridge l5 or I5.

thereby moved away to a slight extent from the central axis of thehalf-truck, which coincides with the longitudinal direction of the car,while the point l4 approaches the central axis. The point l3 moves awayto a distance which is smaller than that by which the point I4approached the central axis, so that the pivoting point of the wheelmoves further away from the central axis.

Obviously, the four points II, l2, I3 and I4 upon the crank disc I0 mustbe so selected, that the distance of the pivoting points of the wheelsfrom said central axis increases to such an extent, that theperpendicular distance at between the planes of the wheels remainsconstant and equal to the running gauge.

As soon as the car has left the right-hand curve, the springs pull thebridges and the wheels back in their normal position; or, the flange ofthe lower right wheel begins to run along a straight rail and is thusbrought into the position shown in Fig. 1 without the assistance of thesprings, moving the upper left wheel along with it, said upper leftwheel being connected with the lower right wheel by the crank disc andthe guide rods.

The wheels are maintained in their straight positions, i. e. at rightangles to the plane of the frame, by separate stabilizing mechanismswhich are shown more clearly in Figs. 4 and 5. Each mechanism maintainsits wheel practically at right angles to the frame, and yet permits itto shift vertically against the action of the springs and to swingaround an axis which is formed by a line connecting the spherical guides21 and 21, as well as to move in a horizontal direction, 1. e., in theplane of the frame.

Due to the particular form of the curved guides or races 2, thishorizontal movement takes'place in such manner that when the wheels areturned, the central or the pivoting point of the wheels is upon thecentral axis of the half-trucks which forms an angle of 90 with thedirection of travel. When a car provided with the described halftrucksbegins to move along a right-hand curve in the direction of the arrow D(Fig. 2), the various parts of the device will assume the position shownin Figure 2.

In Fig. 6 which shows a construction of a truck having two wheelsarranged in tandem with respect to either rail the bridges I5 and I5 areproperly extended to reach around two wheels of the tandem arrangement.Accordingly, these bridges will have four points of support. The pointsat which the bridges engage with the connecting rods of the crank diskremain unchanged as compared with a bridge reaching around only onewheel. Moreover, Fig. 6 shows that in principle the arrangement remainsfully unchanged, irrespective of the fact whether'the truck com- For thesake of not unnecessarily complicating the drawings the proper gearingsystem is omitted from Fig. 6. The truck shown in Fig. 6 comprises twopairs of wheels 32, each pair of wheels being mounted in a tandemarrangement and being surrounded by The frame of the truck comprisesbeams I carrying vertical races 2 and connected with each other bytransoms 4, 5 and 6. The wheels 32 are mounted in casings or plates 22and 22 which are also surrounded by the bridges I5 and I5, respectively.The distancing mechanism interposed between the frame of the truck andthe bridges I5 and I5 comprises a crank disc 9 pivotally mounted uponthe transom 5, and guide rods ll, l2, l3 and 14' which are connectedwith the crank disc 9 are so selected that a constant perpendiculardistance between the vertical planes of the wheels is maintained, sothat the distancing mechanism kee s constant the running gauge betweenthe two tandem arrangements. The truck is also provided with tworetracting springs 40 and so interconnecting the two tandemarrangements.

As regards the last-mentioned connecting rods, I desire of beingunderstood that also three or more connecting rods may be used inconjunction with the crank disk and that said connecting rods, inaddition, may also be arranged crosswise with respect to each other. Theguide mechanism proper may also consist of a plurality of crank disks orsimilar elements.

Although in the foregoing specification I have preferred to describe mynovel truck and pivoted wheel construction in connection with cars orother vehicles which travel on rails, it will be evident from the hereingiven explanation that my novel construction may also advantageously beused in connection with street cars for passenger service or inconnection with freight cars or wagons, trolley busses, automobiles,auto-busses and similar vehicles, in fact, in all devices in which it isnecessary or desirable to keep constant the running gauge, i. e. theperpendicular distance of the wheel planes from each other. In everyparticular case the truck and wheel construction may be modified to meetspecial requirements.

The directions and explanations given hereinabove will enable anyoneskilled in the art to construct my present truck and pivoted wheels.

In general it is preferable when constructing the truck and wheels toentirely dispense with through axles as well as with ordinary wheeljournals in particular. By this the valuable advantage will be attainedthat cars or vehicles equipped with my present pivoted wheels may beconstructed with a fioor which extends in hori- .zontal directionthroughout the length of the car or vehicle at the height of a singlestep above the surface of the street, at the same time permitting toreduce the unsprung weight of the car to a minimum. An essentialtechnical progress will therefore immediately result in every case, whenemploying my new construction. My present invention, however, may alsobe used with advantage in connection with cars or vehicles of theordinary construction in which through axles are employed. In this casemy invention may be used in connection with cars or vehicles havingtelescopic axles, that is axles which may be lengthened and shortened inaccordance with demand by inserting one part of the axle into the otheror by drawing one part out of the other in the manner of a telescope.Furthermore the advantages of my truck and wheel construction willlikewise be present, if the adjustment of the wheels is effected byhand, by the aid of a servomotor or similar adjusting means.

Finally I desire of being understood that single elements or combinationof several elements which form part of the construction according to mypresent invention, such as for instance the mechanism for parallellyguiding the wheels or the guide rods, represent novel and advantageousindividual constructions. I, therefore, aim in the appended claims tocover all those elements or combinations of elements of my presentconstruction, which I believe are new and useful and which result innovel advantages not present in known constructions.

I claim:

1. In a truck for vehicles, a frame, a pair of casing-s, a pair ofbridges, each bridge extending around a separate casing, each casingcontaining the journals of a wheel; and a distancing mechanisminterposed between said frame and said bridges, said distancingmechanism. comprising a movable member carried by said frame and aplurality of guide rods connected with said memher and said bridges, theconnecting points of said member being so selected as to always keepconstant the running gauge of two wheels, the distance of the virtualpivoting points of the wheels being increased in function of thepivoting of said wheels.

2. In a truck for vehicles, a frame, a plurality of bridges, a pluralityof casings, a plurality of wheels, each wheel being journalled in aseparate casing, a distancing mechanism interposed between said frameand said bridges, and means for maintaining the vertical planes of saidwheels at a right angle to the horizontal plane of said frame, saidmeans comprising a plurality of inter connected ball joints, guide rodsand toothed segments cooperating with said wheels, said wheels beingmovable along with their casings in a vertical and horizontal directionwith respect to said frame.

3. In a vehicle, a car body, a frame, a pair of casings, a pair ofwheels, each wheel being journalled in a separate casing, guide rodsfulcrumed to said casings and to said frame, gear casings mounted insaid frame, and springs interposed between said car body and said frame,said springs absorbing the torques arising in the gear gasings duringstarting and braking of the ve- 4. A truck for vehicles, comprising incombination, a bridge, bearings connected with said bridge, a pair ofwheels mounted in said bearings, a guide mechanism comprising a crankdisc mounted separately from said wheels and pivoting in said truck, andat least two connecting rods operatively interposed between said bridgeand said crank disc and distancing said wheels in accordance with thetrack gauge, the connecting points of said rods with said crank discbeing so selected that a constant perpendicular distance between thevertical planes of the wheels is maintained.

5. A truck for vehicles in accordance with claim 4, wherein said crankdisc is mounted at the point of intersection of the axes of the wheelsand of the longitudinal axis of the vehicle, and said connecting rodsare situated crosswise from said crank disc to said frame.

6. A truck for vehicles, comprising a frame, a pair of bridges in saidframe, a pair of wheelcasings, a pair of wheels, each wheel beingjournalled in a separate wheel-casing, each bridge extending around awheel-casing and a wheel, a. distancing mechanism interposed betweensaid frame and said wheel-casings, said distancing mechanism comprisinga crank disc mounted and pivoting in said frame, and at least twoconnecting rods operatively interposed between each of saidwheel-casings and said crank disc and distancing said wheels inaccordance with the track gauge, the connecting points of said rods withsaid crank disk being so selected that a constant perpendicular distancebetween the vertical planes of the wheels is maintained.

7. A truck for vehicles in accordance with claim 6, wherein said crankdisc is mounted at the point of intersection of the axes of the wheelsand of the longitudinal axis of the vehicle, and wherein said connectingrods extend crosswise from said crank disc to said wheel casings.

8. A truck for vehicles, comprising a frame, a central crank discmounted in said frame, casings, wheels carried by said casings,connecting rods operatively connecting said crank disc and said casings,a plurality of bridges, each bridge extending around a separate casing,and a plurality of coil springs, each coil spring being interposedbetween a separate bridge and its wheel.

9. A truck for vehicles, comprising in combination, a frame, a pluralityof casings, wheels mounted in said casings, a plurality of bridges, eachbridge extending around a separate casing, a central crank disc,connecting rods fulcrumed to said crank disc and said casings, saidcrank disc and said rods being adapted to increase the distance betweenthe actual pivoting points of said wheels in dependence from the angleof swing of said wheels and to maintain the efiective running gauge ofsaid wheels by increasing said distance whilst keeping constant thevertical distance between the planes of the wheels, said bridgesincluding rollers mounted at the height of the axis of said wheels torotate around vertical axes, said rollers being adapted to permit theswinging motion of said bridges, said casings and said wheels, androller races associated with said rollers and permitting a rotation ofsaid rollers during the swinging of said bridges, casings and wheels.

10. A truck for vehicles, comprising a frame, a plurality of casings,wheels mounted in said casings, a central crank disc, distancing rodsconnecting said disc with said casings, the connecting points of saiddistancing rods with said crank disc being so selected that a constantperpendicular distance between the vertical planes of the wheels ismaintained, and a stabilizing mechanism for each wheel, said mechanismincluding two guide rods having the form of ball-joints, two verticallypositioned toothed segments, said guide rods being arranged onevertically above the other and connected on one side to said casings, onthe other to said segments, and bearings for said toothed segments, saidbearings being rigidly connected with said frame; two pairs of rollerraces for each Wheel, the combination of said distancing rods, saidstabilizing mechanism and said roller races permitting the wheels topivot around an axis vertical to the frame, to yield in verticaldirection and to yield in trans- Versal direction if pivoting.

11. A truck for vehicles, comprising in combination with a motor, coilsprings and leaf springs, a frame, wheels having hollow axles, casings,said wheels being journalled with said axles in said casings, and gearcasings mounted on said frame, each gear casing being provided with twoCardan shafts, one of said Cardan shafts being interposed between thewheel and a gear casing, the other Cardan shaft being interposed betweenthe gear 20 casing and the motor, the first-mentioned Cardan shaftpermitting the pivoting of the wheels and the action of the coilsprings, the second-mentioned Cardan shaft permitting the action of theleaf-springs.

12; A truck for vehicles comprising, a frame, two bridges, two pairs ofwheels, each pair of wheels being mounted in tandem arrangement, eachbridge extending around a separate pair of wheels, and a distancingmechanism interposed between said frame and said'bridges, saiddistancing mechanism including a crank disc and a plurality of guiderods connected with said crank disc and said bridges, the connectingpoints of said guide rods with said crank disc being so selected that aconstant perpendicular distance between the vertical planes of thewheels is maintained, said distancing mechanism being thereby adapted tokeep constant the running gauge between the two tandem arrangements, andtwo coil springs interposed between each tandem wheel and said bridge.

MONTROSE-OSTER.

